Love O’clock was my very first published book and it consists of four epic poems namely: Blessing Star, The Rustic African Princess, My Sweet Nineteen, and For Couples. A new edition of the book is on the cards. Here’s a snippet taken from The Rustic African Princess.
5. It is a fact that people opine differently while making a choice
about where to live and what lifestyle to adopt or adapt
To this end, the bustle and hustle of a city do not go down well with her
She is a rare rustic personality
She is an exceptional damsel who does not believe transportation systems
and the latest technologies like
the cell phones and the Internet can successfully lure her
away from the tranquility and beauty of the countryside
- My cultural heroine is a steadfast rural dweller
For her, the city has less leisure
For her, rusticity is a treasure
Simplicity of life is a villager`s pleasure
For her, rural life entails a certain spiritual progression
characterised by ritualistic organisation and succession
It’s a place where one can freely and wholly adhere to the norms
of one`s people and genealogy
A place to promote and protect the sacredness of one`s traditions and practices
A conducive environment to hold on to one`s precious customs and societal rules
in spite of the winds of change blowing to uproot such conservative trees
of culture and beliefs, of such dignity, dreams, destinies and designations
It is a protective place to seek or dream to swim against the tide of Westernisation
A milieu where civilities are still followed
An atmosphere where disrespect for elders and one`s language and culture
are frowned upon
A habitation where elders’ guidance is still sought after and followed
A dwelling where cattle and goats and sheep are symbols of wealth and progress
A land where cars do not always compete with cattle as status symbols
A home where beauty is in nature and in quietude not in artificialities
and decorations and amenities of life
An abode where people still enthuse and harp on the cleanliness of hearts and actions
A community where humanity means love, not the love of money
A place where people can use water wisely even if there is neither direct financial cost
nor penalty
A situation where mere visits to some tourist centres and caves and hills can be taken
as acts of sacrilege or sabotage, particularly without the consent and knowledge
of the custodians of these pertinent places
A location where the land and the water and the hills and the caves and the vegetation
habour certain human and superhuman secrets and concoctions and connections
A land where people`s riddles and idioms and dances and songs are reposed
in memory, in practice, in traditional stories or received wisdom
A lovely land where indigenous knowledge systems are a lived heritage
A happy home where the land is the treasure of the living and the dead
